Bertrand de Comminges

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Tomb in Notre-Dame de Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges with depictions of his life and miracles
Busts reliquary in the center of the tomb
Pope Clement V raises Bertrand's relics, anachronistic representation of the 1309 ceremony at the tomb

Bertrand von Comminges (also Bertrand de L'Isle or Bertrand de L'Isle-Jourdain ; * around 1050 in L'Isle-Jourdain , Gers ; † October 16, 1123 in Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges ) was Bishop of Comminges . He is venerated as the patron saint of the Comminges region .

origin

Bertrand was a son of Atton-Raymond, Count of L'Isle-Jourdain, and Gervaise Emma Taillefer, daughter of Count Wilhelm III. Taillefer of Toulouse. Through his mother he was a grandson of William III, Count of Toulouse, and cousin of William IV and Raimond IV of Saint-Gilles.

Church career

After an initial career as a military officer, he became a priest, then Augustinian canon at the Cathedral of Saint Etienne in Toulouse , around 1070 Archdeacon of Toulouse and around 1083 Bishop of Comminges with his seat in Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges. He began construction of the Notre-Dame de Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges cathedral . Significant parts of the first construction phase that began under him have been preserved.

He was a supporter of the Gregorian reforms , which he also tried to implement in his diocese. So he lived with his clergy in a quasi monastic community according to the Augustine rule . But in doing so he also created opponents. According to one report, while he was consecrating a cemetery , monks set fire to a neighboring church. Bertrand was seen as fearless, zealous and pastoral care. He protested together with Ivo von Chartres († 1116) publicly against the canonically invalid second marriage of King Philip I († 1108) of France to Bertrade de Montfort . When this subject was discussed at the Council of Poitiers in 1103, he and other bishops were pelted with stones by supporters of the king.

Death and posthumous adoration

After a term of over forty years, Bishop Bertrand died of a fever during a visitation trip to his diocese. He was buried in the choir of the Notre-Dame de Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges cathedral. Shortly thereafter, a cult of worship began, miracles were reported and his successors promoted the worship.

Around 1167, Bertrand's nephew, Guillaume II. D'Andozile , Archbishop of Auch , commissioned the cleric Vital to write a Vita for Bertrand and to initiate a canonization. Pope Honorius III. opened the procedure in 1218. An alleged canonization resulting from this in 1220/1222 is not documented. In 1309, Pope Clement V , who resided in Avignon and had been Bishop of Comminges from 1295 to 1299, commissioned four cardinals to raise the bones of Bertrand, which was considered a canonization because a pilgrimage had developed in the meantime. Cardinal Pierre von Foix , who was Bishop of Saint-Bertrand de Comminges from 1422 to 1437, had the large mausoleum built, which is also the high altar of the Notre-Dame de Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges church.

literature

Web links

Commons : Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Shepherd.
  2. ↑ Shepherd.
  3. ↑ Shepherd.
  4. ↑ NN: Saint Who?
  5. ↑ NN: Saint Who?
  6. ↑ Shepherd.
personal data
SURNAME Bertrand de Comminges
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bertrand von Comminges; Bertrand de L'Isle Jourdain
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French Catholic bishop, saint
DATE OF BIRTH around 1050
PLACE OF BIRTH L'Isle-Jourdain
DATE OF DEATH October 16, 1123
Place of death Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges